Fair Trade Fashion Internships in Lima, Peru

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About This Program

Huaywasi, is a fair trade project that is an extension of the Light and Leadership Initiative's (LLI) Women's Empowerment program. Profits from Huaywasi sales are directly invested in our women's empowerment program, with the goal of making it 100% sustainable and accessible to more women each year.

We're in search of interns to join us in 2018 or 2019 in Huaycan, Lima, Peru. These internships will allow you Gain more experience in either design, digital arts and/or business development within a close-knit community of female artisans and interns.

We're in search of interns to join us in 2018 or 2019 in Huaycan, Lima, Peru. Gain more experience in either design, digital arts and/or business development within a close-knit community of female artisans and interns. Candidates must have at least some prior experience in their chosen placement. Intermediate Spanish preferred but not always required.

Included/Not Included

Hosted by Light and Leadership Initiative

Light and Leadership offers services 2 different communities: women and children. With the kids, we offer before and after school activities for kids before and after school activities. For our women's group, we provide Women's empowerment programs....

Reviews

Mariel

23

Female

Un

10/10

Ethical Volunteering Opportunity in Huaycan, Peru

Nov 19, 2018

I found LLI a few months after graduating college while looking for an internship with a fair-trade fashion label, and ended up spending 5 months in 2017 working for Huaywasi. Huaywasi was born out of the success of the women's program of the Light and Leadership Initiative and involves 7 artisans, all women living in Huaycan.

The majority of my time with LLI was spent with Huaywasi and I am so grateful for this experience. I got the chance to know the artisans very closely, and spent time in their homes 2-3x a week working on patterns and samples for the upcoming collection. I became pretty close with a few of the women involved with Huaywasi and have come to think of them as family. While we were working we would talk about our families, our beliefs, relationships, friends, pets, work and art and so much more.

The one (hopeful) expectation I had before coming to work for Huaywasi was to see, no matter our backgrounds or the countries we reside in, that women have a sort of unwavering and intrinsic bond. I found this and more during my time with Huaywasi. There is a community here that transcends boundaries. LLI truly is a space for ethical cultural exchanges and that is one of the most beautiful things about volunteering abroad that you don't always find.

I returned back to Huaycan this year to do some more work with the artisans and spent some time talking with one of the woman who is involved both with Huaywasi and the women's program about the nature of LLI, and what it feels like to get to know so many different people from all over the world, albeit temporarily. And what she was saying to me was that it was a wonderful and enriching experience to get to know people, of all ages and from all over the world, and learn about our homes and different ways of lives.

So many of the volunteers come back after their time with LLI and I think that says a lot. This experience has an impact. And Lara has done a fantastic job ensuring that this program is for the community first, and for the volunteers second, which is the most important thing. The community in Huaycan is appreciative of the work LLI does and the volunteers of LLI have a really good reputation.

Furthermore, I really enjoyed my time living in the volunteer house. For most of my time, there were about 12-14 people living in the house and while there are definitely some struggles with living amongst this many people, we found ways to laugh it off and bonded over it. I made really close relationships with the volunteers and am still in contact with most of them.

I would highly recommend this experience to people of all ages, but especially to those who find themselves between graduating college and taking the first steps of your career. You will be humbled and empowered, as LLI truly does create leaders. This experience has given me more than I could put into words. Again, I am so grateful.

Yes, I recommend this program

FAQ

Volunteers candidates can submit a booking request through GoOverseas. Then, the Volunteer Coordinator Manager will follow up and communicate with candidate regarding dates, placement, etc to ensure that we meet our current on the ground needs and find the right placement for you. Then, volunteers are asked to complete an informal Skype session where they can ask questions about the organization,...

Please wait for a response from our Volunteer Coordinator! You can also reach out via a message to ask specific questions about the program. The Volunteer Coordinator will always respond to applicants directly.